Or "systems thinking" - I'm a coder and one of my primary mentors was a librarian.  We share more passions than differences - about information, structure, pattern, detail - and about making libraries better for everyone.

- Mark


Mark Bussey
Data Curation Experts
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On Feb 14, 2013, at 9:52 AM, Cary Gordon wrote:

> Good points.
> 
> One could make the argument that reductive logic is a core skill for
> both coders and librarians.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Cary
> 
> On Thu, Feb 14, 2013 at 9:40 AM, Jason Griffey <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> On Thu, Feb 14, 2013 at 10:30 AM, Joe Hourcle <[log in to unmask]
>>> wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> Two, 'coding' is a relatively minor skill.  It's like putting 'typist' as
>>> a job title, because you use your keyboard a lot at work.  Figuring out
>>> what needs to be written/typed/coded is more important than the actual
>>> writing aspect of it.
>>> 
>> 
>> Any skill is minor if you already have it. :-)
>> 
>> As others have pointed out, learning even a tiny, tiny bit of code is a
>> huge benefit for librarians. The vast, vast, vast, vast majority of people
>> have absolutely no clue how code translates into instructions for the magic
>> glowing screen they look at all day. Even a tiny bit of empowerment in that
>> arena can make huge differences in productivity and communication
>> abilities. Just understanding the logic behind code means that librarians
>> have a better understanding of what falls into the "possible" and
>> "impossible" categories for "doing stuff with a computer" and anything that
>> grounds decision making in the possible is AWESOME.
>> 
>> The presentation that started this discussion (Andromeda's lightning talk)
>> had a lot of other undercurrents in it, but a large part of it comes back
>> to impostor syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome) and
>> owning your own abilities. Librarians are, by and large, a quiet and
>> understated lot, and that rarely does us favors when it comes to people
>> understanding what we do and our actual talents and skills.
>> 
>> Jason
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Cary Gordon
> The Cherry Hill Company
> http://chillco.com